Spring Books 2016
FICTION
HARDCOVER
Expatriates by Janice Y.K. Lee. The New York Times bestselling author of The Piano Teacher returns with a transporting novel about motherhood, marriage, and the elusive nature of happiness, focusing on the lives of three very different American women living in the same small expat community in Hong Kong. As each woman struggles with her own demons, their lives collide in ways that have irreversible consequences for them all. ($27)
The Girl in the Red Coat by Kate Hamer. Newly single mom Beth has one gnawing worry: that her dreamy eight-year-old daughter, Carmel, who has a tendency to wander off, will one day go missing. And then one day, it happens: on a Saturday morning thick with fog, Beth takes Carmel to a local outdoor festival, they get separated in the crowd, and Carmel is gone. Shattered, Beth sets herself on the grim and lonely mission to find her daughter, keeping on relentlessly even as the authorities tell her that Carmel may be gone for good. ($25.95)
Fellside by M.R. Carey. Fellside is a maximum security prison on the edge of the Yorkshire Moors. It's not the kind of place you'd want to end up. But it's where Jess Moulson could be spending the rest of her life for a murder she doesn’t remember committing. It's a place where even the walls whisper. And one voice belongs to a little boy with a message for Jess.($27)
The Infidel Stain by M.J. Carter. Blake and Avery return in the captivating sequel to M. J. Carter's, The Strangler Vine set in London, 1841. Returned from their adventures in India, Jeremiah Blake and William Avery have both had their difficulties adapting to life in Victorian England. Moreover, time and distance have weakened the close bond between them, forged in the jungles of India. Then a shocking series of murders in the world of London's gutter press forces them back together. ($27)
Under the Influence by Joyce Maynard.The New York Times bestselling author of Labor Day and After Her returns with a poignant story about the true meaning and the true price of friendship.Drinking cost Helen her marriage and custody of her seven-year-old son, Ollie. Once an aspiring art photographer, she now makes ends meet taking portraits of school children and working for a caterer. When she meets Ava and Swift Havilland, the vulnerable Helen is instantly enchanted. Their home is filled with fabulous friends, edgy art, and dazzling parties.Then Helen meets Elliott, a kind, quiet accountant who offers loyalty and love. As Helen increasingly falls under the Havillands’ influence, Ava and Swift hold out the most seductive gift: their influence and help to regain custody of her son. But the debt Helen owes them is about to come due. ($25.99)
The Ramblers by Aidan Donnelley Rowley. Set in the most magical parts of Manhattan - the Upper West Side, Central Park, Greenwich Village, the Ramblers explores the lives of three lost souls, bound together by friendship and family. During the course of one fateful Thanksgiving week, a time when emotions run high and being with family can be a mixed blessing, Rowley’s sharply defined characters explore the moments when decisions are deliberately made, choices accepted, and pasts reconciled.Rambling through the emotional chaos of their lives, Rowley’s memorable characters learn to let go of the past, to make room for the future and the uncertainty and promise that it holds ($25.99)
My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout. Lucy Barton is recovering slowly from what should have been a simple operation. Her mother, to whom she hasn’t spoken for many years, comes to see her. Gentle gossip about people from Lucy’s childhood in Amgash, Illinois, seems to reconnect them, but just below the surface lie the tension and longing that have informed every aspect of Lucy’s life: her escape from her troubled family, her desire to become a writer, her marriage and her love for her two daughters. Knitting this powerful narrative together is the brilliant storytelling voice of Lucy herself: keenly observant, deeply human, and truly unforgettable. ($26)
The Past by Tessa Hadley. Three sisters, a brother, and their children assemble at their country house.These three weeks may be their last time there; the upkeep is prohibitive, and they may be forced to sell this beloved house filled with memories of their shared past (their mother took them there to live when she left their father). Yet beneath the idyllic pastoral surface, hidden passions, devastating secrets, and dangerous hostilities threaten to consume them. ($26.99)
Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff. Every story has two sides. Every relationship has two perspectives. And sometimes, it turns out, the key to a great marriage is not its truths but its secrets. At age twenty-two, Lotto and Mathilde are tall, glamorous, madly in love, and destined for greatness. A decade later, their marriage is still the envy of their friends, but things are even more complicated and remarkable than they seemed. ($27.95)
Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin. Of all the glamorous stars of New York high society, none blazes brighter than Babe Paley. By all appearances, Babe has it all: money, beauty, glamour, jewels, influential friends, a prestigious husband, and gorgeous homes. But beneath this elegantly composed exterior dwells a passionate woman desperately longing for true love and connection. Enter Truman Capote. This diminutive golden-haired genius with a larger-than-life personality explodes onto the scene, setting Babe and her circle aflutter. Truman gains an unlikely entree into the enviable lives of Manhattan’s elite, along with unparalleled access to the scandal and gossip of Babe s powerful circle. But once a storyteller, always a storyteller even when the stories aren’t his to tell. ($28)
Sisi by Allison Pataki. In imperial Vienna, where the court halls buzzed with waltzes and champagne, as well as temptation, rivals, and cutthroat intrigue, the intensely personal tale of Empress Sisi unraveled. Infamously beautiful, a mother, and wife of Emperor Franz Joseph, Sisi's reign was anything but simple. Against the backdrop of a rich, romantic, and volatile time period, Sisi, the beloved "Fairy Queen," was a woman well ahead of her time during a true Golden Age in European history. ($28)
The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney. A warm, funny and perceptive debut novel about four adult siblings and the fate of the shared inheritance that has shaped their choices and their lives. Every family has its problems. But even among the most troubled, the Plumb family stands out as spectacularly dysfunctional. Years of simmering tensions finally reach a breaking point on a cold afternoon in New York City as the siblings gather to confront their charismatic and reckless older brother, freshly released from rehab. This is a story about the power of family, the possibilities of friendship, the ways we depend upon one another and the ways we let one another down. ($26.99)
The Doubter’s Almanacby Ethan Canin. Milo Andret, the genius who solved the Malosz Conjecture and won the Fields Medal for mathematics, had been unusual from birth, but not until he moves to Berkeley in the 1970s to pursue a Ph.D. does he realize the extent of his talents. From the drug-soaked enclaves of beatnik California to the verdant lawns of Princeton University, from turbo-charged Wall Street to the quiet woods of Michigan, his reputation as a brilliant mathematician forms the backbone of a story about family, love, passion, and Milo's fraught relationship with his son".($28)
Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld. Sittenfeld deftly and charmingly re-tells the story of Jane Austen’s classic Pride and Prejudice. Set in Cincinnati, the eligible bachelor is a former reality show bachelor. The Bennet family has fallen on hard times and Mrs. Bennett is determined to marry off her eldest as she approaches her 40th birthday. Sittenfeld excels at highlighting the foibles and hypocrisies of modern life. This keenly observed novel is both thoughtful and hilarious. (out 4/19, $28)
PAPERBACK
Margaret the First by Danielle Dutton dramatizes the life of Margaret Cavendish, the shy, gifted, and wildly unconventional 17th-century Duchess. The eccentric Margaret wrote and published volumes of poems, philosophy, feminist plays, and utopian science fiction at a time when being a writer was not an option open to women. At the dawn of daily newspapers, she was Mad Madge, an original tabloid celebrity. Yet Margaret was also the first woman to be invited to the Royal Society of London. Margaret the First is very much a contemporary novel set in the past. Written with lucid precision and sharp cuts through narrative time, it is a gorgeous and wholly new approach to imagining the life of a historical woman. ($15.95)
The Wonder Garden by Lauren Acampora. With enchanting realism, these linked stories bring to the page the myriad lives of a suburban town, and reveal at each turn the unseen battles we play out behind drawn blinds, the creeping truths from which we distract ourselves, and the massive dreams we haul quietly with us and hold close. Deliciously creepy and masterfully complex. ($16)
The Strangler Vine by M.J. Carter. Set in the untamed wilds of nineteenth-century colonial India, The Strangler Vine is a dazzling historical thriller introducing an unforgettable investigative pair. In India, 1837, William Avery is a young soldier with few prospects; Jeremiah Blake is a secret political agent gone native, disenchanted with British rule. This is a great, old-fashioned adventure that brings brilliantly to life the India of the 1830s ranging from urban squalor to glamorous princely courts. ($27.95)
The Buried Giant by Kazua Ishiguro. The Romans have long since departed and Britain is steadily declining into ruin. Axl and Beatrice, a couple of elderly Britons, decide that now is the time, finally, for them to set off across this troubled land of mist and rain to find the son they have not seen for years. Sometimes savage, sometimes mysterious, always intensely moving, Kazuo Ishiguro’s first novel in a decade tells a luminous story about the act of forgetting and the power of memory, a resonant tale of love, vengeance, and war. ($16.00)
Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg. The stunning debut novel from bestselling author Bill Clegg is a magnificently powerful story about a circle of people who find solace in the least likely of places as they cope with a horrific tragedy. On the eve of her daughter’s wedding, June Reid’s life is completely devastated when a shocking disaster takes the lives of her entire family, all gone in a moment. Alone and directionless, June drives across the country, away from her small Connecticut town. In her wake, a community emerges, weaving a beautiful and surprising web of connections through shared heartbreak. Did You Ever Have a Family is an absorbing, unforgettable tale that reveals humanity at its best through forgiveness and hope. (out 5/17/16)($16.00)
Burning Down George Orwell’s House by Andrew Ervin. A darkly comic debut novel about advertising, truth, single malt, Scottish hospitality or lack thereof and George Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four". Ray Welter, who was until recently a highflying advertising executive in Chicago, has left the world of newspeak behind. He decamps to the isolated Scottish Isle of Jura where George Orwell wrote "Nineteen Eighty-Four." But a few of the local islanders take a dim view of a foreigner coming to visit in order to sort himself out, and Ray quickly finds himself having to deal with not only his own issues but also a community whose eccentricities are at times amusing and at others downright dangerous. ($16.00)
Orhan’s Ineritance by Aline Ohanesian. When Orhan’s brilliant and eccentric grandfather Kemal is found dead, Orhan inherits the decades-old business. But Kemal has left the family estate to a stranger thousands of miles away. Intent on righting this wrong, Orhan unearths a story of the Armenian Genocide that, if told, has the power to undo the legacy upon which Orhan’s family is built."($15.95)
Non-Fiction
History
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow (Paperback, $20.00) Alexander Hamilton is one of the least well known of the Founders and one of the most complex. His role in defining the shape of the Federal government, his affairs, his feuds, and, ultimately his death in a duel with Aaron Burr…these have all contributed to the myth of Hamilton. Now a musical based on the book brings him awkwardly to the forefront.
Days of Rage: America’s Radical Underground, the FBI, and the Forgotten Age of Revolutionary Violenceby Bryan Burrough. (Paperback, $29.95) From the late 60’s thru the 70’s a wave of revolutionary militant groups coalesced, broke apart, and reformed with the aim of transforming or destroying the evils they saw in America. They saw violence as the only means to gaining social justice. For more than a decade, they bombed and robbed and retreated underground. Yet, for all that, their impact at the time was minimal and today they are largely forgotten. Indeed, in the age of modern terrorism, the Weather Underground, the SLA, Faln and other groups seem oddly naïve. Still, there are important lessons to be learned from that period and Burrough is an excellent teacher.
Reagan: The Life by H.W. Brands (Hardcover, $35.00) Ronald Reagan’s election marked a seismic shift in American politics. The long held tenets regarding the role of government that had grown out of the Roosevelt era were challenged by Reagan and the revitalized conservative/libertarian movement. Yet Reagan was a child of the Depression and was, initially, a supporter of FDR. His progress from liberal to conservative, actor to politician is a fascinating story.
SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard (Hardcover, $35.00) Why read a history hi of ancient Rome. That’s ancient history, right? Actually, no. The history of Rome (like the history of ancient Greece) is the fertile ground upon which are sown the seeds of Western Civilization. In culture, law, government, art, and language, the debt to Ancient Rome is large and pervasive. Understanding our cultural roots and how we are shaped by them is of critical importance to the continued growth and evolution of our values and beliefs.
Custer’s Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America by T. J. Stiles (Hardcover, $30.00) George Armstrong Custer has been both praised and damned, in equal measure. He was unquestionably brave and patriotic as his record in the Civil War and in the West proves. He was a talented military strategist. But he was also bigoted, passionate, anti-authoritarian, and, ultimately, foolhardy. It is always dangerous to judge people and their actions from a distance. Stiles’ great contribution is his ability to see Custer in the context of his time. This makes him neither more or less likeable by contemporary standards. But it does explain the values and beliefs that drove him. What emerges is a portrait of a flawed but important historic figure whose impact on the United States has been vastly underrated.
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (Hardcover, $25.00) It is assumed that humans are the only creatures who are aware of their own mortality. We live our lives with that knowledge but are rarely forced to confront that reality. Paul Kalanithi was a bright young physician and soon to be father when suddenly his own terminal illness shatters his dreams and forces him to look at the world as it will be without him. His struggle to understand and to cope with the finality of it all is an important lesson for all of us, whether contemplating our own or someone else’s passing. As Donne famously noted “send not to ask for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
You Could Look it Up: the Reference Shelf from Ancient Babylon to Wikipedia by Jack Lynch (Hardcover, $30.00) Reference works are not something we “read.” They are sources of information patiently waiting on the shelf until some small, isolated bit is required. But the development of legal codes, atlases, dictionaries, encyclopedia, even, yes, even sex manuals is as fascinating a story as the information that they contain. These reference materials are the gatekeepers of much of the information we use everyday. And they are far from dull. Have you read a good dictionary lately?
Ardennes, 1944: the Battle of the Bulge by Antony Beevor (Hardcover, $35.00) World War II was over. The Allies driving to final victory were confident that German surrender was imminent. Then suddenly in a single futile, deadly, and almost successful battle, Germany hurled everything it had into a conflict that could only delay the inevitable. In the snowy forests of Ardennes, a million troops fought a battle of desperation as savage as any fighting seen on the Eastern Front. Beevor lays out more than just the thrust and parry of battle. He captures the motivations…the fear, the vengeance, and the desperation…that drove the combatants. In that he captures the personal and emotional trauma of war.